Scottish Ethnology and Celtic

Scottish ethnology and Celtic is a degree that brings together two distinct but deeply related fields of study: the ethnological study of Scottish culture, traditions, and material life, and the academic study of the Celtic languages and their associated literatures and cultures. Scottish ethnology examines how people have lived, worked, and created culture in Scotland across time, attending to folk traditions, music, material culture, oral narrative, and the relationship between people, land, and community. Celtic studies encompasses the languages of the Celtic world, including Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Welsh, Breton, Cornish, and Manx, alongside their literatures from the medieval period to the present and the cultures from which they spring.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year full-time programme sits in an institution that is uniquely well placed to offer it. Edinburgh has exceptional strength in both Celtic languages and Scottish cultural studies, and the School of Scottish Studies, founded in 1951, holds one of the world's most important archives of Scottish oral tradition, song, and ethnographic material. Studying here means you engage directly with living traditions and with research material that no other institution can match.

The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study Celtic language and culture in another country, whether that is Ireland, Wales, or another Celtic-speaking region.

You will study Scottish Gaelic or another Celtic language, engage with folk narrative, song, and traditional music, examine the material culture of Scotland, and develop skills in ethnographic and textual research. The year abroad deepens your linguistic competence and cultural understanding.

Graduates move into careers in heritage and cultural organisations, archives, broadcasting, community arts, education, tourism, and academic research. The combination of language skills and ethnological knowledge is particularly valuable for roles in Gaelic and Scottish cultural life.